Electromagnetic interference (EMI) poses two concerns for radiotelephones. The first concern is EMI entering the radiotelephone circuitry and introducing noise, which can degrade signal reception and cause improper operation of the radiotelephone. The second concern is the amount of EMI emitted from the radiotelephone. All electronic products have to meet FCC regulations on the amount of EMI they can emit.
Generally, the approach to shielding from EMI is to provide a conductive, usually metal, enclosure either around the source of the EMI or around the electronic circuitry that is most susceptible to EMI. Often the conductive enclosure is grounded. In radiotelephones this usually means placing metal enclosures over EMI emitters and susceptible circuitry. However, this is usually not sufficient so the plastic housing holding the radiotelephone is coated with a metallic paint or covered with a metallic screen.
While the metal enclosures and metallized housings provide adequate EMI shielding, there is a constant drive to reduce the manufacturing costs of radiotelephones. The process of shielding the housings is relatively expensive. To avoid shielding the housing more metal enclosures can be used to cover the electronic circuitry. While this is less expensive than shielding the housing it provides an inadequate level of EMI shielding for the radiotelephone. Thus there exists a need for a less expensive way to provide EMI shielding in a radiotelephone.